Leaving the Nest (so to speak)

When I started out 5 years ago racing cyclocross I was the only one racing for my club. Today we have over 20 guys racing for the club in cyclocross. The director has done a great job in being positive and creating opportunities for riders to get interested and join the team. In fact, many of the road guys have given it a try and found out that they love it. A few of us only race cyclocross in the fall and abstain from the road. The team has become the dominant force in Georgia cyclocross, and I credit that to the director and the passionate riders.

I joined the club to ride with a few of the folks I met there about 7 years ago. Our club is fantastic and has many motivated people and offers more than 2-3 rides per week. Since the club and the racing team are separate, many of the road racers race for different teams while being a part of our club.

I decided that for next year I would race for a new team for a change. HUP United, a national cyclocross culture team accepted me as one of their own for next year. It is pretty low key and will allow me to become again, an "army of one" in Georgia . I am not sure how much I will race this year but it will be different and fun to race against people I have been teammates with. I think HUP has a lot to offer and it makes me a little more relaxed knowing that my investment is less than it is on the GTC racing team.

HUP has a nice network of people around the country that are all passionate about 'cross and perhaps I can even visit some of the other regions for a race to two sometime.

The GTC racing team will dominate cyclocross again next year for sure and I doubt my leaving will make any difference at all in their overall performance as a team. I hope that this Sunday I can cap it off for the team by securing the masters 35+ championship.

I am looking forward to getting back to just riding with the club and at least for a year, not representing them in races. I think it will make me a better bike rider and a bit more amiable overall.